söndag 27 november 2016

So, I've been painting some models. I almost got like 30-40 done, they only need some grass on the base. I also ordered some more miniatures today... some units that can act as Tier 3+ infantry (both Lhurgg and human) and a Tier 3+ tank.

These models (below) from http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/ actually belongs to some lion-like race, but as they wear armour they can double as undercover Lhurgg veteran/elite infantry. Rawr!

Picture of the Khurasan miniatures that will act as Lhurggs. I will paint mine purple, the Lhurgg colour.

Engineers! They got hazmat suits that I try to cover as some kind of armour. The blue details are to separate them from ordinary squads from distance.

Elsa and Anna... characters for some kind of future scenario. Never highlighted dresses and breasts before, hmm. Also, to the right, the Lhurgg mecha, done and done! In the background, some new drones!

Gurevich and Mikoyan, my Tier 1 drone patrol vehicles. Different basing should make them easy to identify.

That's all!

Maybe me and Joel will play this week. At least we are preparing to demo the game for the community, yupp yupp.

söndag 20 november 2016

The God of Wealth has once again called upon the Sickles to (hopefully this time also actually succeed) act as a tool of war. Not far away from the recent battle rumors has it that there is some kind of relics from an unknown maker in the vicinity. The mission; to find and secure. The Sickles makes haste since they know that the (blasted) Varuna Legion also operates in the area, full of confidence (and without trauma points...), yet to broken.

Captain Staya assort the strike team personally, if you want anything done - do it yourself. Some Lhurgg units are mustered alongside troopers from the Sickles, despite some of those units surely needs some R&R to lick their wounds.

The Sickles' strike force.

Captain Staya brought to the fray:

Himself (Field Command 3rd Grade, Tier II)!

Bullet Bullies (Rookie Rifle Team, Tier II), new unit!

Velocity Vintovkas (Rookie Rifle Team, Tier II), was in the last battle and has 5 trauma. They sure need some rest!

Table setup. The three grey small... "monoliths" were the objectives. The Sickles deployed, from left to right. Beeping Brawlers, Ground Gagarin, Swift Swords, Kicking Kepis and Tribal Tribute, a total of 6 composition points.

The scenario indicates that we would fight over the control over three objectives. During this game, a unit may use a special action (forfeiting any other action) to check the objective, as "there can be only one!", as Highlander taught us. Anyway, first check is on 5+ for being the objective that we are looking for, rendering a +1 modifier on any checks on the remaining two. The force holding the objective can't be routed and win at game end (which could end from turn 12 and on).

In the rules there are some, in our opinion, inconsequential rules regarding number of units, composition points (for fielding units) and unit tiers. We made a house rule to Always use any of these restrictions bound to compositions points (i.e. reinforcements, determine number of units to deploy, rout etc.). Easy, and in most cases the most fair way to do it, if you ask us at least.

Anyways...

The Varuna Legion fielded their LMG section on the Sickles far right flank, the M5 patrol vehicle in the center (replacement for the loss of the one prior to this battle, a unit which had Incendiary rounds) and the Black Team on the Sickles far left flank.

OAll in all, all units moved forward at high pace to get to the objectives. The M5 covered one objective, locking the Sickles right flank. The LMG section got into position to cover the M5 but still stayed in reach for the closest objective. Black Team secured the second objective on the Varuna Legions side of the table. The Sickles moved all units forward, using the terrain as cover. Swift Swords moved towards the one, and only, objective on their side of the table. Ground Gagarin, found line of sight and started shelling Black Team, sadly to no effect. May the God of Dices not have abandoned me once again!

"No problem Mr. M5, we cover your metal @!#"

"Show us your best shot Ground Gagarin!"

"Incoming! Move move move!"

Turn 3
First reinforcements arrived. Bulliet Bullies in the center for the Sickles (finally some quality troops eh?) while the Varuna Legion deployed Fort Vega Cadets on the Sickles far left, facing Beeping Brawlers, but also the Red Skulls Assault Team in the center.

Alas, the Varuna Legion got the initiative and checked the objective close to Black Team, and it was relic we were fighting for! The Varuna Legion got into defence, while the Sickles now had to mount an attack and claim what is, somewhat, (at least should be) rightfully theirs!

Ground Gagarin sets up in a building to cover the right flank, forcing the varunian LMG section to redeploy. To the right; Bullet Bullies!

The main bulk of the Varuna Legion, also shows how close the advancing Lhurgghs from Swift Swords are to the Black Team on the other side of the forest. Who can't see each other

Another view of the battlefield. On the far side of the forest to the left, you can see the flanking Lhurrghs from Tribal Tribute.

These actually are the droids we are looking for. Here waiting for the Fort Vega Cadets to make the first move, who are doing vice versa. Both units spent most of the time waiting for a good moment to push forward.

Fire was exchanged on the right flank. Ground Gagarin was scratching the paintjob on the M5, which seemed to helped Kicking Kepis in the building to find their target. They scored a perfect hit, dealing 7 damage to the M5 which was put out of action (we had no wool for this game, yet again, so a radioactive die symbol got to make do for the knocked out vehicle. As an act of revenge the varunian LMG section returned fire and knocked Kicking Kepis to smithereens, falling back with no chance of regrouping (since I failed all the rolls to regroup, haha). A good trade for me (Tier I for a Tier II)!

It also gained me an additional advantage since I now had far more units (almost the double) than my opponent Joel. Since he was on the defence, I could wait and see what he would do first, acting and thus reacting later with most units.

Turn 4-5
It was now pretty obvious how the battlefield was molded. The left flank had some kind of Mexican standoff between the Fort Vega Cadets in the forest and the Beeping Brawlers behind the hill, a stalemate. On the right losses were mounting as Kicking Kepis was retreating off the board and the M5 was just a pile of metal and burning smoke. The Lhurggh unit, Tribal Tribute moved from cover to cover and avoided fire for a long time, still locking the right flank. Joel sent in reinforcements, Blue Team to protect the LMG section.

Outside the so important 2" from the edge, and therefore hidden from scary machine guns!

Next cover! Getting ready to valiantly attack the LMG section. Their comrades, Hard Hoofs, did it some games ago with... a disappointing result. Good luck guys! Raff raff!

They didn't even got pinned (remember the 14th colonials? They also did this trick, apparently armour is not needed). What did I do? I hit back! Up on the hills, guns blazing and seconds later (and some rolls) the LMG section lost a member and was broken! The Lhurggh (as a whole) first achievement!

The erm... reinforcement, then beat back the Tribal Tribute killing three and giving them 12 suppression, but I was proud! Dang, I was proud!

"You wanna live forever!? Let's kill some Lhurggs!"

So what's happening on the left flank?

Chillin' in the forest, Swedish style. The standoff continues.

One forest to rule them all
So a lot of action took place in the middle, near of the objective (as it should!). It was very exciting since the forest made all support useless but still cut off reinforcements to enter the area. So far a very good game indeed!

Since the Velocity Vintovkas and Captain Stoya was deployed in the middle and advancing towards the forest in the center, Joel deployed his last units in the middle. The Grenadiers Team. He also activated the Red Skulls Assault Team which allowed him to fire at point blank range!

And roll 1. Giving 1 suppression. The battle for the middle forest had some trouble since every unit had +2 Defence and we rolled awfully bad, both of us.

Sometimes tactics don't cut the deal! Now, time to seize the opportunity of attack!

Joel repositioned the fast(er) Fort Vega Cadets to aid the center, but was caught in a hail of fire from Ground Gagarin indirect fire, thus using their speed to quickly leave the battlefield. Beep beep! Beeping Brawlers advanced to flank the varunian defenders of the objective.

Captain Staya (and Ground Gagarin, with their pistols!) fired upon the retreated Swift Swords to "convince" them to return back, to no effect. But they rallied anyway so they didn't seem to mind... maybe it's some kind of alien culture thing.

Captain Staya also orders his troops forward with the Command Ability, giving me the momentum.

"Holy sh!t, it's a whole other company!"

With the momentum, and more units and got the upper hand in the middle. Joel still had the Blue Team and the now rallied LMG section, but they were out of position to aid their allies. That's 4 of Joels 12 composition points, a great deal!

I broke the Black Team and assaulted them, killing all! No quarters is given! Beeping Brawlers caught the Grenadiers Team in the open, breaking their morale. As the Varuna Legion wasn't holding the objective any more, they were routed. The Sickles won! Their first win in the campaign!

"Fall back! The red tide is coming!"

It felt very good to win! Firstly, I got some well needed funds and experience and not that much trauma. Now, some of Joels units needs respite and he also lost two Tier II units this game. This will also give me some breathing room. It also feels good to actually giving my opponent a rough time, it's not fun to always lose, or win!. Great game all in all! It seems that PMC2640 always gives great games, huh!

Yes, we are all psyched about this game :D

The surviving units of the Varuna Legion; the remnants of the LMG section and Blue Team.

For the 10 kUC I bought some new units. A new Tier II patrol vehicle (my third), a Lhurggh Tier II nomad unit (from the expansion, they got stealth!) and a Tier I HQ. The Tier I HQ don't have the Inspiring Presence, increasing the odds to rally, but they cost half as much and still lets me activate the "Not a step backwards!" company ability. I need to try that out!

No levels ups for my units yet, but at least no battle traumas! Joels Red Skulls Assault Team got "Into the shadows", giving them the stealth ability, a very scary combo indeed. Lurking for the right momentto strike!

onsdag 2 november 2016

And we're back!
With this battle report I'm up to date with the campaign. It'sa niiice! This is the battle of the 14th Colonials.

As always, we rolled for terrain and mission, which gave us the Invasion scenario on a barren world. It felt good to leave the city, sort of. Since the rapid evacuation of captain Staya, the not that successful CEO of the Sickles, the company has established a base on this barren world. Not long after, the Varuna Legion, invades to try and occupy the base.

The smoke lays thick as the invading forces tries to get cover during the precious first seconds of the assault. The defenders has called for reinforcements which has responded, to fight back the invaders together as comrades. But what they don't know is that the Varuna Legion is deploying some of their crack units onto the battlefield.

"Open fire! Fend off those pesky capitalist mercenary invaders!"

The Sickles forces consisted off:

Velocity Vintovkas, Tier II Rookie Rifle Team.

Panzer Projectors, Tier II Rookie Rifle Team [new!].

Honour Holders, Tier I Recruits.

Ground Gagarin, Tier II Remote Mortar Section.

Crocuta, Tier II Lhurgg Heavy Patrol Vehicle [new! Since the first of this kind blew up first game!].

Ataka Away, Tier III Rocket-Armed Team [the heroes of the company, that are responsible for wiping out 100% (read: 1) of the enemy units!].

Note that the Lhurgg units were on relax and spa, due to 'a lot' of trauma points... Droids needed a service, ya know, every 10000 miles and so on.

With so many new units, I got no kUC:s left. I hope I'll get some stash this time!

In the foreground we have the Panzer Projectors (their first game). Far away we see Velocity Vintovkas, joined by captain Staya (but not Stoy who got treats at the spa and relax due to animal rights in the 27th century). The blue pillars are the three landing zones we were fighting for.

The Varuna infantry unit on the left is the Varuna Defenders, joined by another rookie team and their vehicle.

I got the first round, trying to open fire and taking advantage of the received suppression the landing troops gain. Sadly for me, to no effect! My other unit, Velocity Vintovkas, was out of range but moved out of their safehold to assist their troubled allies.

Joels vehicle had incendiary rounds, which doubles the amount of suppression points the target gains if it is in cover. So, Panzer Projectors got 12 suppression points (which is maximum...) and some KIA:s! Varuna Defenders valiantly charged with bayonets and grenades ready to slaughter any survivors from the first barrage. Hmm, things was looking grim, already turn 1! Best spent 4 kUC ever! ;)

In my opinion, it's a bit harsh to get destroyed if assaulted when broken. A remove from play á la retreat from the battlefield would suffice. Anyway. 4 kUC later...

"All your base are belong to us!" - A now famous saying within the Varuna Legion

Well, I tried to get into position with the aiding troops, but the ones who was getting help was now dead. So, instead of aiding, it's now time for revenge! In the meantime the Varuna Legion got comfortable in the base and even parked their car outside the front. But we'll shown them whose (bad) neighborhood this is!

Parked car, in the wrong neighborhood.

End of turn 2. Overview of the battlefield. Reinforcements has arrived for the Sickles; the Honour Holders!

Turn 3
Reinforcements has arrived, and it's the famous Ataka Away! They were able to walk in, casually, and fire a missile, casually, at the Varuna vehicle which blew up! Casualty! hehehe! The anti-tank rule doubles the roll of the D10, so a '5' was enough to finally blow that vehicle up! It had given me huge problems during game 1, 2 and 3. Ah, the sweet taste of revenge!

Please note that Ataka Away still stands for 100% of the destroyed units by the company, I'm impressed!

The Honour Holders also joined the fight and took positions on the right flank. Velocity Vintovkas got ready to retake the base and moved forward, guns blazing with no effect. The Lhurgg walker, Crocuta, joined the fray but was out of range to engage.

I could feel the winds of change! Next turn, I could engage with all four units against two, odds were looking good for the Sickles!

End of turn 3. The red cube at the vehicle is there to mark it as destroyed, unfortunately we had no smoke around.

Turn 4
More reinforcements! More more more! Ground Gagarin hit the field and started launching grenades down the base, also, with no effect. The Varuna Defenders rolled a hard '9' and sent Velocity Vintovkas crying, pulling back with the company banner, leaving comrades behind. This pretty much halted the advance. Units in buildings gain +2 Firepower and Defence. That is very scary for low tier units to compete against! Buildings are a fearsome force multiplier! I could only hope for my units with destructive weapons to score a good hit and raze the base, with Varuna units under the concrete crumbles! My hope stayed with Ataka Away and Ground Gagarin.

Turn 5

Second wave is here to save the day, for Joel at least!

I repositioned Crocuta and Velocity Vintovkas actually got back in the game, despite having lost two troopers. The Varuna field commander started shouting orders to the left and right, letting the MG team ripp against Ground Gagarin, killing one trooper and sending the other one off the board. The Varuna Legion was now advancing on all fronts, leaving the newly captured base too make a counter-counter-attack! Taking the point was the Tier 1 squad of irregulars. What a spearhead... Ataka Away lost a member, fleeing. So did Honour Holders (Honour Droppers?). What the...!?

Did I do anything about it? Yeah! Fired with all I had on those irregulars in the i middle. They were close, they were without cover and were fired upon like six times. They didn't even get suppressed! Hence, they are now the 14th Colonials. A named unit, even without a level up! For having only a defence of 7, those guys were stubborn!

I just wanted to say; I kept track during the game, being used to roll awkwardly bad. I rolled no '4', '6', '7', '8' or '9' during the whole game! I rolled '5':s twice, that's it! Rest was, well you guessed it... low (a roll of 0 is zero). At the meantime, I must admit thou, Joel plays solidly and never leave anything to chance! Hats off comrade!

Last turn, he sent Ataka Away, away. Same with Honour Droppers. He also blew up Crocuta (!) with rifle fire (!). So I gained over 9000 trauma points due to being routed and lost two Tier II units, which costs a total of 8 kUC.

Rolling for new funds, I got 2 kUC...

Noodles for the company from now on! And we need those Lhurggs and droids back! Stoy can fetch them maybe.

Once again should the (victorious) Varuna Legion face the Order of the Twin Sickles. This time thou, the battle became a Priority 1, Tier 1 battle, so only low tier units was able to be fielded.

In a true pseudo-neo-communist spirit the Sickles has "convinced" a foreign species, the Lhurgg, to battle with them (Tier I units). The objective was to hold a building of (some) importance while fending off the attacking Varuna Legion. Due to the latest... setbacks... the Sickles now has imported drones to the cause, alongside the somewhat brave and daring Lhurgg.

The Lhurgg! Guarding the so important building.

The Sickles took up positions, with:

2 irregulars (Tier 1, assault troops).

2 recruits (Tier 1, rifle infantry) whereof 1 as a drone unit.

2 light patrol vehicles (Tier 1, combat vehicle) as drone units

The Varuna legion was attacking with:

1 light MG section (tier 1, light support troops)

3 recruits (Tier 1, rifle infantry).

1 irregulars (Tier 1, assault troops), with a level! They had "Adrenaline Rush", which makes them activate twice once per game.

Game on!

Setup

Drone unit in the east, this is the unit Beeping Brawlers!

The Lhurgg units Brood Bloods (unpainted) and Hard Hoofs in the north. With the drones Mikoyan and Gurevich.

In the main building, in the middle of map, the Kicking Kepis led by captain Staya hold their position. Banner held high!

Two units from Veruna Legion approach from the north.

Veruna Legion in the south. This is the Red Skulls Assault Team, with Adrenaline Rush. Scary indeed!

Turn 1 and 2
Not much action, mostly taking up positions.

Mikoyan and Gurevich takes position to the north, behind some huge crates (left side of picture) while Hard Hoofs occupies a bunker, with their assault rifles... hmm...

Turn 3

Reinforcements in the south. On the left hand side the MG section sets up.

Red Skulls Assault Team move in for the kill! With their Adrenaline Rush they rushed to cover and destroyed droids, one at the time. Beeping Brawlers, possession no emotions (still not self aware), still fled from the scary figures of flesh and bone while losing four friendly robots. Luckily, droids are somewhat immune to long term morale effect due to being Determined. Other than that, all other units was still getting into positions. The Veruna Legion waited for reinforcements and the Sickles couldn't find any opportunities for counterattack.

Getting ready for assaulting Beeping Brawlers in the east! The foam and cork made excellent cover!

In the south, Veruna Legion sent a recruit unit into/onto the building.

Hard Hoofs leaves the bunker, trying to flank the MG section. Kicking Kepis in the middle scores a devastating hit on the recruits who just took up position in the south building. The Veruna Legion MG squad fires back at no effect. Captain Staya cheers and waves his banner and farts in Joels general direction! In the north, Brood Bloods makes an counterattack!

Remember that counterattack in the south? Well, it failed. No hits and when the MG section returned fire it was bye bye beyond repair. The Lhurggs has failed me, but not for the last time!

CHAAARGE! [...] DANGER DANGER! RETREAT!

Speaking of repairs, the Beeping Brawlers drone unit, alongside the sniping Kicking Kepis turned their gun barrels and rifles towards the Red Skulls, scoring many hits despite the cover of foam and cork. Nice! Back to where they came from; the table edge!

Turn 5 and 6
Beeping Brawlers, filled with joy and pride (metal, circuits and the like), got to cocky and launched themselves to avenge Hard Hoofs miserably attack, and as a result of that joined Hard Hoofs in their disarray. Retreating from the scary MG section. Pew pew. In the north a stalemate occurred. Gurevich and Mikoyan couldn't launch an attack without support, and the all ready, always prepared Joel had positioned his units out of reach from the heroic Kicking Kepis. With most of my units having fleed the battlefield the Sickles was routed, again!

Next time Joel... (maybe) next time...

Peek-a-boo!

With the banner held high, captain Staya and his trusty dog Stoy evacuates the battlefield. Kicking Kepis were happy to survive more than one game round for once! Feat. turn die.

tisdag 1 november 2016

Howdy!
Me (Gabriel) and Joel have been playing some games of PMC2640 now, and after some games we started a campaign to maximize the experience. Well, in the future we would like to be some more players and maybe tailoring a more narrative campaign (I volunteer as Umpire and tribute!).

Anyway, the Sickles (my company) have been facing some real tough resistance in this contract zone. Prior to the fourth battle the company has lost one... two... okey, three times!

Meeting engagement, game 1. Got surrounded and butchered. At a critical point, and maybe a turning point, I activated the "Not a step backwards!" company skill, but "encouraged" my troopers a bit to much, those that were left was very motivated to run away (and is now a retired unit)! Captain Staya sure is fierce! I lost my walker too, and a mortar section :( Always in my heart. </3

Invasion, game 2. Sickles were defending while Joels company, the Varuna Legion, was embarking on the landing zones. The Sickles got no reinforcements to push back the invaders until game round 6 or something, which also was the first turn that the Sickles managed to score their first hit! At round 6?! One of game breaking events was the "1 turn in game" for the unit High Hats (which is now retired due to battle trauma...).

Attrition, game 3. The Sickles succeded to actually kill an enemy unit, and for the first game even killed more troopers than was being lost. But Joel outsmarted me, once again. I lost again, but for once I wasn't routed! Things are turning! Times are changing! Slowly. Lost some units too, again. My unit "Ataka Away" was the killing unit, my best unit (my only Tier III unit)! <3

Some of the units I've bought. Work in progress, mind you.

In total of five games (I haven't written the reports for game 4 and 5 yet), counts:

The year is 2640. The name of the game is odd and long. The Private Mercenary Company (PMC) eagerly awaits new contracts, and new earnings. This is PMC2640 (http://assaultpublishing.com/pmc-2640/)!

This blog is about a campaign where I will let you follow the (tragic) fate of the company; Order of the Twin Sickle... or Sickles, for short. The private company board has elected captain Staya as its... erm... CEO! With the mission to bring fortune and death upon contracted enemies of the state!

Erase the last part, it should be "enemies of the contractor", of course.

Captain Staya and his trusty 2nd in command; the dog Stoy (pun intended).

So this pseudo-neo-communist company has a slogan "United comrades in foreign countries" and have a (now eternal) enemy. The Joel company, who in contrast to the Sickles are evil capitalists whose only purpose is to gain unimaginable wealth! The company history has showed that this is absolutely not the case for the Sickles, almost bankrupt.

Conclusion: Me (Gabriel) and my friend (Joel) started playing PMC2640 and started a campaign, which is all supported by the rules (which is nice!). Great game in my humble opinion, and the creator answers really fast when we have questions! Big thumbs up! Follow us and the fate of the Sickles!